


sharing is caring

by Pawprinter



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Light Angst, Platonic Relationships, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, the rating is for coarse language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27383260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pawprinter/pseuds/Pawprinter
Summary: The three times Luketriesto share a mic with Alex, and the one time hedoes.
Relationships: Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Luke Patterson & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex & Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 69
Kudos: 305
Collections: JATP Appreciation Week





	sharing is caring

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is written for the event I'm running on Tumblr! So far, we're having a really good time, so come check us out! Julie and the Phantoms Appreciation Week is running from November 2 to November 8, 2020 [on Tumblr](https://jatp-week.tumblr.com)!
> 
> This was is written for day 1, since Alex is my favourite character and this fic is very much Alex-centric. It's only a tad late...
> 
>  **Warnings:** the fic is rated teen for coarse language.

The four of them breathed heavily in tandem, all exhausted and exhilarated from the rehearsal they just ran. Alex set his drumsticks back on the snare and wiped the sweat lining his forehead.

“That was  _ great,  _ you guys,” Julie said, sounding just as exhausted as Alex felt. “I think that’s the best we’ve ever played Rush.”

Luke met her right in front of his drums for a high-five before he turned to Reggie. “Dude, you’re  _ killing  _ it on the vocals. And, Alex.” When Luke turned to him, he was beaming at him so wide that it made  _ Alex’s  _ cheeks hurt. “You coming in for the solo right after the line about watercolours? Top notch. It’s  _ so  _ good. Those producers don’t know what’s coming for them.”

Alex rose from his stool, his hands shoved into his pockets and his heart pounding in his chest. “No, yeah. I mean… yeah. It’s going to be good.” 

“Better than that — it’s going to be  _ great.” _

Reggie jumped in. “Wrong. It’s going to be  _ phantom-tastic.”  _ He looked proud of himself. “Get it? Phantom-tastic — like fantastic, but with  _ phantoms  _ because we’re—”

“We get it. Thanks for that, Reg,” Julie said, her expression completely deadpan.  _ “But,  _ I will admit, he has a point. We’re all doing so good.” She glanced at the clock above the garage doors and nodded to herself. “Okay, break for five and then we’ll run it before dinner?”

With a plan in place, the band dispersed for a quick break and he slunk back down to his seat, trying to shake out the stiffness that took up residence in his shoulders.

Alex didn’t know why he was suddenly so  _ nervous—  _

Except, he did.

He always felt nervous for solos up until the second he was up on stage, firmly planted behind his drums, with the spotlight shining in his eyes. When he hit those first notes,  _ this  _ — the stress, the worry, the overthinking — it all bled away.

But, until then, he was left with a heaviness in his gut.

Luke clapped a hand on Reggie’s shoulder and they shared an excited look. “When we share the mic right after the chorus? I  _ feel  _ it. The  _ crowd’s  _ going to feel it, man.”

“I  _ hope  _ so. Hey, Julie, your dad’s going to be there tomorrow, right? We gotta make it look  _ extra  _ good for Ray, guys, I heard him talking about how proud he is of Julie and I just want to bring that home, you know? Send it around for an extra mile.”

“Yeah,” Julie said, her lips quirking up. “My dad’s gonna be there.” 

She, Luke, and Alex shared an amused look. 

It was the running joke that Reggie was Ray’s shadow. 

_ Or ghost.  _

Regardless, he followed him everywhere and, more than once, Alex walked in on Reggie in a full-blown conversation with him. Granted, that conversation was very  _ one-sided,  _ but it was still a conversation. Reggie was good at talking to himself, apparently. 

(That wasn’t too surprising — he always had a lot to say.)

“Hey,” Julie spoke again, catching their attention. “I’ve been meaning to ask you guys something.”

“Shoot,” Luke prompted. “We’re all ears.”

“Well, technically we don’t  _ have  _ ears anymore since we don’t have  _ bodies,  _ but— you know what? Doesn’t matter.” Reggie flopped backwards onto the couch. “Continue.”

She gestured with her capped water bottle between him and Luke. “You two share the mic a lot, right?”

“I mean…” They exchanged a glance. “I guess?”

Reggie straightened. “Luke claims to have chemistry with anyone he sings with, but I think that’s just a me and you thing—” He was made quiet by a pillow smashing into his face. He sputtered and shot Luke a betrayed look. “Hey—”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told him. He turned back to Julie. “I’ve never talked about chemistry, I swear. Especially not when talking about you. Or Reggie. In fact, I’ve  _ never  _ said the word chemistry before! I didn’t even  _ take  _ chemistry in high school.”

Julie looked confused. “I wasn’t talking about  _ chemistry.  _ Although... you  _ do  _ have chemistry with anyone you sing with.” With a wave of her hand, she dismissed that thought. “No, the point is that you share a mic with me and Reggie when we’re out there. I was just wondering… did you ever share a mic with Trevor? Or Bobby, I guess?” 

They fell silent.

Just the mention of him made Alex’s stomach swoop horribly. The tension in the garage became stifling and heavy — heavy enough for Alex to feel like he could suffocate in it. 

He cast a quick glance at the other two former members of Sunset Curve. There was some solace to the fact that they both looked equally as uncomfortable with the turn of conversation.

Julie bit the inside of her cheek and winced. “Is this not a question I should be asking? I feel like I’m breaking some sort of ghost law to talk about your past, but—”

“No,” Luke said quickly. He grimaced when he stood and busied his hands with adjusting the tuning pins on his guitar on his lip. “No, it’s not the question  _ or you,  _ Julie. It’s just… It’s weird talking about him, you know?”

She nodded solemnly. “I get it. Let’s not talk about him then, alright?” Her gaze flicked to Alex’s and an easiness settled on her features. The turmoil he felt only moments before eased the slightest bit. “Let’s talk about  _ Alex  _ then.”

Scratch that. The turmoil was back.

“Wait, what? No, that’s okay—”

“Have  _ you  _ ever shared the mic with Luke?” Julie asked teasingly. “It’s for scientific research. We gotta know if Luke has chemistry with everyone he sings with or not.”

_ That  _ broke the remaining tension in the room.

Reggie let out a squawk and latched onto Luke’s side. “But  _ we  _ have chemistry, Julie. Isn’t that good enough? Who cares about Alex and Bobby’s chemistry with him.”

“Shut up,” Luke laughed, wiggling out from his arms. He was determined to be the human equivalent to a koala though, and wasn’t letting go without a fight. As Luke tried to pry his arms off of him, he looked to Julie. “Nope, no mic sharing with us.”

Julie looked shocked, but only for a moment. Her expression shifted to one of jest again. “Is Luke neglecting you?”

“Honestly, you  _ want  _ to be neglected this time.  _ How  _ does your breath  _ taste  _ this bad when you haven’t eaten anything in weeks?” Reggie paused and thought. “Wait… does ghost food count? Or is the last thing we ate considered the rancid hot dog?”

Alex, not wanting to debate the validity of the food served at Caleb’s club, rolled his eyes and turned back to Julie. “I’m only neglected because I’m behind the drums. It comes with the job description. It’s fine.”

“UH, EXCUSE ME?” Luke shot forward, wearing the most offended and bewildered expression he’d ever pulled off. “It is absolutely  _ not  _ fine??  _ Have I been neglecting you?  _ Oh my god, I’ve been neglecting you.” His fingers covered his lips in shock. His eyes went wide. His expression slackened with horror. “I’m a horrible friend.”

“Luke—”

“I’ve been neglecting you this whole time and I never even realized it, but!” He clapped his hands together. “That changes now.”

“What, no—”

“No more neglecting you, Alex. We’re going to test Reggie’s theory about chemistry and mic sharing because  _ I’m coming for you.” _

Alex sputtered and gestured to the space around him — or, rather, to the lack of space around him. “Oh, really? How, exactly, are you going to do that? How!?”

Reggie snorted and elbowed Luke. “He forgot we’re ghosts. We can just  _ walk through  _ things.”

Luke glanced at him sideways. “Uh. More like  _ you  _ forgot that these are technically ghost instruments.” He looked to Julie for confirmation. “Right? That’s the theory we’re going with? These are ghost instruments?”

“They can interact with both of our worlds, so…” She left the statement hanging.

“Again, not my point,” Alex said. He shifted forward on his stool and gestured again to his set up. “There’s no  _ space  _ to share a mic back here. It’s not possible.”

“I’ll just come around to the back and—”

“Nope!” Alex leapt up from his stool. “No! Absolutely not! You are  _ not  _ coming back here with your  _ wires  _ and your  _ loose  _ guitar. What if you knock something over?”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Really, Luke,” Julie asked, looking at him with an eyebrow raised. “You being careful? I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“If you come back here, I will kill you.  _ Again.”  _ Alex pointed his drumsticks in his direction in what he hoped was a threatening way. 

Luke leaned back on the couch, completely undisturbed. His grin told Alex everything he needed to know; he was absolutely not taking him seriously.

“Don’t try me, Patterson,” he warned.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

* * *

**i.**

_ No,  _ Alex decided,  _ Luke didn’t  _ **_dream_ ** _ of it.  _

_ He  _ **_did_ ** _ it. _

He. Did. It.

At first, he didn’t realize what was happening. The performance started out great. Only a few days previous, they performed in front of a bunch of music producers, which was  _ stressful.  _ It took him a while to get lost in the song and feel  _ free. _

But not tonight.

Tonight was different. It was a small gig in a club, but the room was packed with people who simply loved music — no producers to worry about, no pressure of impressing Julie’s schoolmates,  _ nothing. _

He got lost as soon as he appeared on the stage, drumsticks in hand and metal pedal under foot. The lights made Alex feel like he was back on a beach in the peak of summer, it was so hot. Sweat ran from his temple and down his neck. The wood of his drumsticks was slick in his hands. His clothing stuck to his body. The cheer from the crowd reminded him of the roar of thunder overhead. The air was thick and humid.

_ It was glorious. _

The group moved together as a unit, each piece clicking together perfectly. Each movement was rehearsed, every line was structured and planned—

And then it wasn’t.

When Luke’s guitar stopped playing for one of the final verses, there felt like a gaping hole in their song. Immediately, his gaze snapped towards Luke, his heart pounding with a panic because  _ something had to be wrong, right?, something had to be wrong because he wouldn’t just stop playing without a reason— _

He put the pieces together too late.

Luke’s guitar was flipped around to his back and he clutched his mic in his hands, making it clear that he wasn’t intending on playing for the verse. 

Their eyes locked across the stage.

Luke’s smile widened. He lifted his free hand and pointed directly at him, his eyes flashing with joy and his laugh bleeding into his voice, and—

No.

_ No! _

Alex tried to shake his head as discreetly as possible, but—

It was too late. Luke was crossing the stage, never breaking his gaze, never hesitating with the lyrics.

_ He was coming to share his mic with him. _

Alex wanted to curse his ridiculous, pure-intentioned,  _ dumbass  _ of a friend. 

Of course he was going to make sure to include Alex in the coveted mic sharing.

And, of course, he was going to go out of his way to get to him.

And,  _ of course,  _ he was willing to sacrifice pieces of his verse — both on the guitar and vocally — as he made his way towards the drum set, carefully navigating his way over wires, and pieces of their instruments, and equipment, and—

_ And, of course, he was going to fall flat on his face. _

Alex could only watch in a mixture of pure disbelief and horror as Luke’s foot remained tangled on a cord poking out from their amp as he attempted to climb up the drum platform. It was too late to stop his forward momentum though and, quickly, that  _ forward  _ momentum turned into  _ downward  _ momentum.

Julie,  _ somehow,  _ managed to keep singing without a waver in her voice, despite just watching Luke eat shit on stage.

Reggie started towards his sprawled body without stopping the performance, clearly concerned, but froze mid-step when Luke poofed away.

They locked eyes from across the stage and Alex thanked all those years spent together for teaching him how to read all of Reggie’s thoughts as easily as a book. He caught Julie’s nod at the very last second.

Together, he and Reggie poofed away, hoping the crowd would think their sudden exit was all part of the performance. Julie was to finish the show solo; something Alex felt bad about, but he knew she’d pull it off successfully, no problem.

They found Luke in the garage, laying face down on the couch. 

Alex whacked him with a pillow.

“You’re lucky you’re a ghost,” he told him, “otherwise  _ both  _ Julie and I would murder you.”

“Uhh, I don’t know if being undead is going to save him,” Reggie argued. “I could’ve sworn I saw Julie carrying salt into the garage the other day. Just saying — you might want to start running.”

“It’ll be fine,” he disagreed, his voice muffled by the cushions.

“Yeah, well, you really did it this time.”

Luke turned his head to the side and locked eyes with Alex. “Oops? My bad?”

“Yeah, your bad. Stick to sharing your chemistry with Reggie and Julie, alright? Next attempt, you’re going to put your foot through my bass drum and  _ then  _ I will  _ have  _ to find a way to murder you.” He fell to the couch once Luke pulled himself into a semi-sitting position and a peace settled over them. A beat passed before they looked at each other again; this time, Alex’s expression had softened. “Thank you though. That was cool.”

“It would’ve been cooler if I didn’t break my face up there, but, you know.” He slung his arm around Alex’s shoulder and pulled him into a partial hug. “Anything for you, cutie patootie.”

Alex grimaced. The moment of peace was broken. 

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

* * *

**ii.**

Alex thought that was the end of it.

_ He was wrong. _

Thankfully, this time, Luke’s second attempt at reaching Alex mid-song was during practice in the garage. It was as spontaneous as last time — luckily, spontaneity was something that they’d all gotten used to when it came to Luke and they learned to expect the unexpected.

He turned one-eighty during his opening verse and quickly lifted his eyebrows, as if that was enough to fill him in on the plan.

Then, before Alex could even react, the mic had left Luke’s grip and was sailing through the air.

As one expected, it was impossible to continue to drum and catch an object flying at his face. His drumsticks clattered to the floor in favour of saving himself from a black eye and, without the consistent beat from the drums, the rest of the song fell apart.

“Luke!” Reggie complained. “I was  _ just  _ about to come over there! No fair!”

“Shhh,” Luke insisted. He pointed at Alex and grinned hopefully. “What do you say, Alex? Sing a few notes for us!”

“No.” He tossed the mic back at Luke. He fumbled to catch it. “I have a perfectly good mic over here, man. No sacrifices needed.”

“Yeah, but then we aren’t  _ sharing.  _ Sharing is caring, isn’t that right, Julie?”

She didn’t respond. Instead, she flopped back onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling.

“Tell me how you expect me to drum  _ and  _ hold your mic then, huh?” Alex lifted his arms up. “Only two hands here, man, and I kinda need both. And if you even  _ think  _ of suggesting I use my  _ feet  _ to drum again, I will personally find you another rancid hot dog.”

Luke frowned. “Alright, geez, I get it.” He sulked for a moment before shoving his mic back onto the stand. “No throwing mics at you, no foot drumming suggestions, no walking behind the drums. You’re no fun. You gotta live a little!”

“Yeah, well, luckily for me, I’m dead. So. I won’t be doing that.” He retrieved his drumsticks from the floor and caught Luke’s eye from between the snare and the bass drum. He blew out a breathless laugh at how pathetic and  _ sad _ he looked. “It’s  _ fine,  _ Luke.  _ Fine.  _ F—I—N—E.”

“Why settle for  _ fine  _ when you can be  _ fantastic.”  _ Luke’s smile was infectious. “All it takes is one mic share and—”

“You can mic share with me!”

_ “Not now, Reggie.” _

* * *

**iii.**

Another performance.

Another attempt.

Alex was expecting this one. Right before going onto stage, Luke slid up beside him and poked his shoulder.

“Psst. Alex. I have a question for you.”

“Hm?”

“Okay, you know right after the verse where Julie ends with dahlias? How do you feel about that verse  _ right  _ after that one?”

Alex shot him a confused look. “Uh, pretty good, I guess?” He glanced towards the stage, where Julie was already speaking in the mic to start off their show. “I think it’s too late to change it though because Julie—”

“What? No. I’m not changing it.” He hesitated. “Why? Should I change it?”

“Luke—”

“Right.” He pointed to the stage. “The drums aren’t on a platform at this venue.”

He had a suspicion of where Luke was going with this conversation, but he really hoped he was wrong.

“I see that,” he said slowly. “What about it?”

“What about it?  _ What about it?  _ This is the  _ perfect  _ time for me to just  _ sneak around the back of your drums  _ and I’ll lean over and— hey, why are you making that face? I brushed my teeth today, okay?  _ And  _ I’m wearing deodorant so, like, we’re good, dude. Here, want proof?”

Before Luke could move any closer to him, Alex held up his hand and side-stepped. “No, I’m okay.” 

He glanced towards the stage.

_ Well. _

The drums were level with the rest of the stage. That was something that usually didn’t happen at venues. The stage was pretty cluttered with equipment from the previously performing bands though and it looked like  _ hell  _ to navigate upstage from stage left.

_ But  _ what if Luke just poofed behind? Wouldn’t that work? 

That would work, right?

God, why was he thinking about this?! They already all saw how horrible this could go.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea…”

“You hesitated,” Luke pointed out. “You hesitated! You  _ want  _ to share a mic with me! Aw, I knew it. You tried to hide it but you just can’t  _ resist—” _

“I  _ was  _ considering it, but I take it back. I take it back right now.”

Luke’s nose scrunched. “Rude. But seriously, man,  _ tonight’s the night.  _ I feel it. And I have a plan.” Julie began to play the piano and the two of them began to get ready to appear on stage. Moments before she finished her first verse, they locked eyes. “Just  _ trust  _ me, okay?”

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

.

Alex could never regret trusting Luke, even if they wound up in situations like this one.

Luke stood on the top of an amp beside the drum set and leaned over the snares in an attempt to get to him.

He couldn’t help but laugh as exhilaration rushed through him. The rhythm he was hitting onto the drums came without much thought thanks to the hours and hours of grueling practice he put in — a good thing, now that  _ this  _ was happening.

The microphone was in Luke’s outstretched hand, somewhere between their two faces. It was still too far away to really pick up either of their voices.

For the longest time — which, in reality, must’ve only been a few beats to the song — they just  _ stared  _ at each other. 

Luke was leaning so far forward that he looked like a bird right before flight, balanced with his toes hanging over the edge and his whole body moving to the music. His guitar swung dangerously as he threw his upper body to the beat, but his grin —  _ his grin —  _ it was wide and  _ free  _ and exhilarated and—

“Sing!” Luke must’ve said, but the music and the crowd were too loud to make out his voice. Alex could read his lips though, and he knew  _ that word  _ did not belong to the lyrics.  _ “Come on!” _

_ Screw it. _

To reach the mic, Alex stretched and inched off his seat, but it  _ still wasn’t enough.  _ The lyrics were flowing from his mouth easily, but the adrenaline in his veins made it feel like his  _ mouth  _ wasn’t even moving.

But it was.

And he was singing.

Luke let out an exclamation and surged forward, and—

Things fell apart quickly.

It started with the amp under his feet tipping to the side. Luke’s exhilaration and excitement flashed to horror and, suddenly, he was falling through the air.

This time, before he could taste the stage floor, he poofed out before hitting the ground. Alex’s gaze darted to the front of the stage to lock with Julie’s, both of them sharing a terrified glance. His heart was in his throat because—  _ his drums. _

His drums had been  _ right  _ under Luke’s path, which would’ve been a  _ disaster.  _ He would’ve probably died right then and there if something happened to his beloved drum set — a drum set that would’ve survived his death and twenty-five years of abandonment, but not five weeks with Luke.

Oh.

And Luke.

He cared about Luke. Falling from the top of the amp would’ve probably sucked, regardless if they were alive or not.

Before he could feel too concerned about his sudden disappearance, Luke’s voice came through the speakers. There was a brief flash of light and then he appeared on the left side of the stage, guitar in hand and mic inches from his mouth.

He turned his body just enough to lock eyes with Alex across stage and—

_ Damn him. _

His grin was cocky and thrilled, and Alex knew.

Now that he had shown an  _ ounce  _ of interest in sharing a mic with him, he was never going to hear the end of it.

* * *

**+i.**

Julie was the brains of the operation.

(Reggie liked to remind them all that not only was she the  _ brains  _ of the operation, but the body too.)

(Technically, she was the  _ whole  _ operation considering they weren’t visible without her.)

Alex was trying to balance the butt of the drumstick on his forehead when she caught his attention. She turned from the piano bench that she was sharing with Luke, her expression lit up and her hands gesturing at him excitedly.

He cautiously lowered his drumstick. “Uhhh. I didn’t do it? It was Reggie.”

“Hey! I did  _ not!” _

Luke gave him a sideways glance. “Dude, we’re not talking about who did what.” A pause. “But what did you two do?”

Together, they answered. “Nothing.”

“Riiiiiight,” Julie drawled. “Were you listening to what I was saying?”

“... yes? I mean, yeah. Of course I was.”

_ He was not. _

Knowing this fact, Julie relaunched into an explanation. “This last verse here, I think we can work it into a way that doesn’t include drums.”

_ Ouch. _

That shocked him enough for his drumsticks to clatter to the floor. He bolted into a sitting position. Alex  _ attempted  _ to hide the hurt from his face, but it was nearly impossible with how tight his chest was and how  _ sick  _ his stomach felt.

“Woah, alright, can we back up a second? No drums?” His gaze darted between his three bandmates. His thoughts swam with every horrible explanation. “Is there something— Did I miss something?”

Julie had hopped off the piano bench and was crossing the room, paper in hand. She sat down beside him with a pen and a determined look on her face, but he still didn’t really understand what was going on.

“Take a look,” she prompted, nudging the paper to rest between their legs. “You see right here?” She gestured to a paragraph of scribbles and lyrics near the bottom of the page. “Luke and I were thinking it would work here.”

_ “What  _ would work?”

“You know…” She let the words hang in the air for a moment before continuing. “You’d come out from behind the drums for this verse? Right?”

Alex choked on his words. “You should know that Luke already tried to tell me once that drummers are so nineties, so you’re going to need a new joke. You wrote a song without drums?”

Julie blinked at him. “First of all;  _ rude.”  _ She turned her glare to Luke. “You  _ told  _ him that?”

“I mean, yeah, but—”

“Not you speaking,” she cut him off, lifting her hand. Luke fell quiet. “I’ll go through my childhood things to find you the book that taught me manners because  _ damn.  _ You’re mean.” 

Alex had to admit, there was nobody in life or death that could handle Luke so flawlessly. Not even he or Reggie could put him in his palace so eloquently. 

Her expression softened when she turned back to him. “No,” she promised, “The song has drums. See?” 

She flipped the page over to the front half, where Luke had jotted down a few notes about ideas he had for drums in his horrid printing. Like usual, he left most of the decisions up to him since he knew his instrument the best.

Before Alex could question Julie again, she flipped to the back page. “Luke and I were thinking to cut the drums before the final verse — probably in these bars here. That way, you can come around from behind the drums and join us at the front of the stage.” He felt her eyes settle on the side of his face. “Luke’s pretty adamant about sharing a mic with you and I figure, this way, there’s less chance of a ghostly death on stage.”

Alex was shocked into silence.

He wasn’t too sure if ghosts’ hearts could stop beating — or if ghosts had hearts in the first place — but—

“Oh.”

_ Oh, wow. _

His gaze drifted over to Luke’s. 

He was having a hard time breathing. No matter how hard Alex tried to convince himself that it wasn’t a big deal,  _ it kind of was.  _ Luke was going  _ way  _ out of his way to make sure he felt included and valued — not only as their drummer, not only as a vocalist, but as a friend too — and  _ that  _ made Alex feel like he was dying.

But in a good way.

He could die in a good way, right?

“You don’t have to,” Alex told him. “I mean… you’re writing it into a song just because—”

“Just because I want to share a mic with one of my best friends and show the world how wildly talented he is? Yeah, you’re right. That’s why I’m writing this into a song.” 

Luke’s expression was soft, and it reminded Alex  _ so much  _ of when they were younger and the world felt infinitely complicated and  _ it was just them —  _ him, Luke, Reg, and Bobby —  _ against the world.  _

It was this expression that he’d cling to when things got bad.

It was this feeling that he chased when it felt like he was drowning.

_ It wasn’t so different now.  _

(They just weren’t exactly  _ alive,  _ one of their best friends had betrayed them, and they’d been taken in by one angelic lifer.)

(But, really.)

(Was it  _ that  _ different than the nineties?)

“What do you say?” Luke prompted. “I think it’s about time we share a mic for once, huh?”

“What, and test out your little chemistry theory? Reggie told me your breath is  _ rank  _ and I  _ really  _ don’t want to experience it for myself, so—”

“No, you dork. Because I love you and, I donno, I guess singing into the same mic is like… my thing or whatever.” 

Alex could tell just how deep and true those words were despite how dismissive and apathetic Luke tried to look. He knew they could  _ all _ see right through it. Sharing the mic up on stage was definitely Luke’s love language, and Alex couldn’t help but think how  _ perfect  _ that was for him. 

In an attempt to convince everyone he was joking, he pushed off the piano and forced out a laugh. “Plus, we already  _ know  _ I have chemistry with everyone here. It’s just the cards life — and death — dealt me; be compatible with everyone.”

Alex glanced back down at the song on his lap, still unable to find the right words. How does one articulate this exact feeling — a feeling of  _ rightness,  _ and  _ completeness,  _ and  _ undying loyalty?  _ It felt impossibly big to put into something as simple as words.

“Cool. Yeah. Sure.” He shuffled the papers in his lap, just to give his hands something to do. Still not being able to find the right words, he cleared his throat and said the first thing to come to mind. “Thank you. It’s just— yeah. It’s cool.” He blew out a breath. “I just— I don’t know what to say.”

“I know,” Luke assured him, “but I got you. You’re good.”

_And Alex knew;_ Luke understood exactly what he was trying to say despite never finding those right words.

.

Alex was  _ nervous.  _ He’d been nervous before — of course he had been — so he was used to the feeling of a plummeting stomach and sweaty hands and weak legs.

_ But this was different. _

This performance was important, considering they were getting  _ paid  _ for it. Sure, they weren’t in it for the money (or, not  _ really), _ but technically the money made them  _ professional musicians,  _ and that was a big deal.

The crowd was large, the room was filled with energy, and Alex felt like he was going to vibrate out of his shoes.

_ This feeling melted away once he got behind the drums.  _

The lights caused him to see stars if he looked past the edge of the stage and, really, that was a good thing because when Luke turned to him, his expression eager, and his smile wide, and his hand beckoning—

_ It was just them. _

It was him, and Reggie, and Julie — as it was always meant to be —  _ and that was all that mattered. _

He’d never left his position behind the drums during a performance before — not in the twenty—first century or the nineties — and it was  _ terrifying.  _ He kept hold of his drumsticks as he climbed over the stray pieces of equipment and wires, careful not to get his feet hooked on anything, and then—

For the first time since meeting Luke, they were at the front of the stage together, both leaning into the same mic. 

_ His expression was priceless. _

Luke was still  _ so into the song  _ — his head bobbing and his hair flying — but there was a slight quirk to his lips and crinkle to his eye that Alex hadn’t seen before. Maybe it was because he’d never seen him perform this close up, or maybe it was because they were finally singing into the same mic, or maybe it was because they were  _ crushing this song,  _ but—

Did it matter, really?

Luke looked as excited as Alex felt, and  _ that  _ was what mattered.

When Reggie came to stand on his other side and Julie harmonized with the three of them down stage, things clicked into place. He’d never admit it to Luke — they all knew he didn’t need an ego boost — but  _ he was right.  _

Sharing a mic with the two people he considered family, and with the third only a few feet away — it was glorious.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated!
> 
> Paw  
> Find me on [Tumblr!](https://pawprinterfanfic.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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